The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has decided to allow all educational institutions to start normal classes from Monday (October 11), announced Federal Minister for Development, Planning, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Thursday.

The minister said that the NCOC made the decision keeping in view the improved situation of coronavirus, and the launch of the school vaccination programme across the country.

"Based on the reduced level of disease spread and the launch of the school vaccination program, it has been decided in today's NCOC meeting to allow all educational institutions to start normal classes from Monday the 11th of October," tweeted Umar.

NCOC relaxes some restrictions in Punjab, KPK

Pakistan has slowly been rolling back restrictions across the country as intensity of the fourth wave reduced. Along with its vaccination drive, the country has seen a reduced number of cases with positivity also declining over the past few weeks.

On Thursday, the country reported another 1,453 cases at a positivity level of 3.13%. The number of daily cases has drastically reduced since July-August when it was around 4,000-5,000.

Pakistan has also made progress on the vaccination front, with total doses administered nearing 88 million. Of these, close to 32 million people are fully vaccinated, while over 62 million have received the first dose.